Journey Across the Galaxy
by Scar the Martyr
Summary: A duo of friends - a Human and a Turian - take a journey across the Milky Way Galaxy as part of a personal endeavor. With permission from the Alliance Navy and the Citadel Council, they travel from throughout the Milky Way. As the journey progresses, the two friends find themselves in places they never imagined, from Palaven to the edge of the Perseus Veil. Female Shepard cameos.


**Citadel, Zakera Ward, Purgatory Bar **

**2185, January 7****th****, 10:00 A.M.**

_Where is he? We were supposed to meet here an hour ago…_

Jason Harrison Bates looked around the Purgatory Bar as he sat at his table, a cup of wine in one hand and a datapad in the other. He was waiting for someone who was supposed to meet him here exactly one hour ago, a turian, who was inexplicably late.

_Strange. I thought turians were very strict about punctuality. Hope he didn't get held up in traffic, or the elevator didn't get jammed on the way. But if I have to wait another hour, I'm leaving. _

He was about to stand up and order another round when the main door opened, and a pale-skinned, blue-tattoed turian entered the bar. Jason waved to the alien to signal him to come over, and he made his way through the bar and sat down in the empty seat across from his human friend.

"You're late, Caisius," Jason said with a small smile on his face. "An hour late for a turian? It just doesn't seem right."

"It's not my fault, the elevator was slow," Caisius Indol answered with amusement in his flanging voice. "And C-Sec is being a pain in the butt for making me go through all of these stupid security measures. Just to make sure I'm not carrying any geth software with me or anything like that." He adjusted himself on his chair and rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, to business. Are you really sure you want to do this?"

Jason laughed. "Yes, I'm positive, Caisius. I want to take a journey across the entire Milky Way Galaxy, from Earth and the Sol System all the way out to the Perseus Veil and back. I want to see Palaven, your homeworld, and everything else. I want to see the entire galaxy."

Caisius sat back in his chair, contemplating this massive undertaking of a single human traveling the galaxy on a joyride. In one hand he gripped a cup of brandy. He shook his crested head. "Jason, no offense, but you are either the craziest or the most ambitious human I've ever met in my whole life. How exactly do you plan to accomplish this? Can you fly a starship by yourself?"

Jason laughed as he raised his wine to his lips. "Me? Fly a starship? Heck, no, there's no way I could do that! No, we'd actually need someone _professional_ to fly around the galaxy. No offense taken, Caisius. And I won't be going alone, because _you're_ coming with me."

Caisius jolted forward in his seat, nearly knocking over his drink. "OK, now you _are _being a crazy human, because I am _not_ going with you on this journey! I'm needed here on the Citadel!"

Jason was really laughing now. "Come on, Ciasius, you haven't been to see the Citadel Council in six months!_ Six months_! That must be like a quarter of a century for a turian!"

The turian found it hard to stay angry at the optimistic human, and so he smiled and banished his anger away. "You're right, Jason. Yeah, I'll go with you. I'll take you to Palaven, but no further. There's enough trouble out there with the Collectors and all that. The last thing I need is for my best friend to get his butt in the fire when I'm not around to pull it out."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, old friend!" Jason said in agreement. He handed the datapad to the turian, who looked it over. "That pad has all the information you need," the human explained. "It's got everything: travel expenses, potential planet visits, security waivers, packing list, and so on and so forth. Can you have one footlocker packed by Saturday?"

"'_Can I?'_" the turian repeated with a bit of pride. "Of course I can! You know me better than this, Jason! But wait, is anyone else coming with us?"

Jason drank the last of his wine and sat up. "Well, I was planning to visit everywhere and anywhere possible, so I was hoping we could get a whole crew of nearly every species in the galaxy: salarians, asari, volus, batarians, krogans, and the like."

"Yep," murmered the turian under his breath. "You're definitely crazy."

**Citadel Docking Bay D27, January 11****th****, Noon**

The SSV Rhodes is among one of the most underrated starships in the Alliance Navy. Though dwarfed considerably by the SSV Normandy in every way, its importance is great nonetheless. This ship was due to be decommissioned by the Navy by the end of the month, but Jason Bates was not about to let it happen. He wanted to let the Rhodes take one more trip: from one end of the galaxy to the other and back.

While not necessarily the Commander of the vessel, Jason felt like on as he climbed through the airlock, followed by Caisius and some C-Sec guards. As Jason and Caisius entered the bridge, standing before the cockpit was the Commander himself.

One of the guards whispered in the Commander's ear, and he nodded and turned around to face his new crew members.

"Jason Bates, Caisius Indol, my name is Commander Gabriel Horus of the SSV Rhodes. I understand you want to take control of this vessel for a 'journey across the galaxy' , as it were. Is that correct?"

Caisius looked at Jason, then back at the Commander. "With all due respect, sir, it was Jason's idea. I was merely dragged along because he and I share a long friendship."

"No worries, Caisius. Stuff like that happens to me all the time, too." Commander Horus said, raising his arms to excuse the turian. He jerked his thumb at the cockpit, and the seat turned around to reveal a person sitting in it. "This is my Flight Lieutenant, Hank Mandriff." Hank tipped his hat in greeting and turned his seat back to the flight controls. The Commander shrugged. "He's not much of a talker. But he's one of the best FLs I've ever met. Anyway, your galactic journey has been approved by both the Alliance and the Council, under the sole condition that you remain in Citadel space. You will be under my command as this is my ship. Are we clear, boys?"

Caisius and Jason stood at attention and saluted their new Commander. "Yes, sir!"

"Excellent!" Commander Horus clapped his hands together. "Now, as far as boarding is concerned, I think there's still a couple of beds vacant in the Crew Quarters and-"

"Pardon the interruption, Commander!" A brown-skinned salarian appeared beside Jason and hurried towards his commanding officer. "The Admiral would like to speak to you in the comm room: something about aggressive batarian activity on the border of the Sol System."

Horus sighed deeply. "Well, that can't be good. Anyway, boys, like I said, the Crew Quarters are still open if you want to board there. I'll see you back here in 1500 hours, clear?"

"Clear!"


End file.
